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HomeMy WebLinkAboutP&Z Minutes 1993-04-12 Special[ j l l SPECIAL MEm'ING PLANNING AND ZONING CCMMISSION APRIL 12, 1993 A SPECIAL MEm'ING OF THE FRIENDSWOOD PLANNING AND ZONING CCMMISSION WAS HELD ON MONDAY, APRIL 12, 1993, AT 6:30 P.M. IN THE CITY HAIL COUNCIL CHAMBERS. THE FOLLa-JING MEMBERS WERE PRESENT: BAKER -CHAIRMAN FINGER DICKSON McHUGH CRF.sS HOOVER -CITY PLANNER THcw>SON -CITY ENGINEER HENRY -DEVELOPMENT COORDINATOR BRINKMAN -SECRETARY WI'I'H A QUORUM PRESENT, VN.iJ DYKE AND JORDN.iJ ABSENT, CHAIRMAN BAKER OPENED THE SPOCIAL MEETING OF THE PLANNING AND ZONING CCMMISSION. MAYOR NE.W-1AN ADMINISTERED THE OATH OF OFFICE TO GLENN CRESS AND THEN CITY PLANNER HOOVER ADDRESSED THE PLANNING AND ZONING C(MvllSSION AND CITY COUNCIL TO DISCUSS THE FOLLa-JING ITEMS: A.DISCUSSION OF ZONING DISTRICTS AND SPECIFIC USE TABLE.B.DISCUSSION OF ZONING IN RESIDENTIAL CCMv1.ERCIAL TRANSITIONARFAS. HOOVER REVIEWED THE DIFFERENI' ZONE CATEGORIES AND OTHER LAND USE CONTROLS. ENI'RYWAYS OR VISUAL CORRIDORS WERE DISCUSSED AS WAS ARCHITECI'URE, LANDSCAPING AND OI'HER ASPECTS OF DEVELOPMENT. THE MAYOR POLLED BCYI'H THE CG1MISSION AND THE CITY COUNCIL TO GET THEIR VIEWS ON THE HEIGHT REQUIREMENTS OF BUIIDING.S AND ON WHICH OF THE THREE CORRIDORS SHOUID BE DEVELOPED. THE MAJORITY OF COUNCII.MEMBERS AND CCMMISSIONERS PRESENT WERE IN AGREEMENT THAT THE CURREN!' ORDINANCE OOVERNING HEIGHT WAS ALRIGHT, AND THA'l' TALLER BUIIDINGS SHOUID BE :ux::ATED ON LARGE PIECED OF PROPERl'Y. THERE WERE MIXED OPINIONS REGARDING THE VISUAL CORRIDORS. SCME VIEWED FM 518 AS THE PRIMARY CORRIDOR, OTHERS VIEWED FM 528 OR FM 2351 AS THE PRIMARY ARTERY. HOOVER REMINDED THE Ca.1MISSION THAT THERE COUID BE M:>RE THN.iJ ONE VISUAL CORRIDOR DEVELOPED. CONSIDERATION WIIJ., BE GIVEN TO ALL 'I'HREE MAJOR AR'l1ERIES WITHIN THE CITY LIMITS OE' FRIENDSWOOD AT THIS TIME. SUGGESTIONS FRCM THE LAURELFIELD Hc::MECmNER'S ASSOCIATION WERE DISCUSSED AND F.ACH MEMBER OF THE COUNCIL AND OF THE C(MvllSSION WAS GIVEN N.iJ TO OPPORI'UNITY 'IO EXPRESS HIS/HER INDIVIDUAL CONCERNS. BCYI'H THE COUNCIL AND PLANNING AND ZONING C(MvllSSION WERE IN AGREEMENI' WITH REGARD TO THE GUIDJ\NCE H � TfilM. THE MEE'l'ING MIS l\llJOUllNED. {!j,a-CLAUDIA L. BRINKID\1' I -SECl [ 1 I I COUNCIL AND PLANNING CC'MMISSION OORKSHOP The tool used by local governments to control land use is zoning. The basic concept entails dividing the city into different districts, or zones, to impose different land use controls on each. These controls include, but are not limited to, allowed uses of land and buildings, the intensity or density of those uses, and the allowable coverage of the land by those buildings. Traditionally, there have been four categories separating land uses. Those four are residential, ccmnercial, industrial, and agricultural. Small cities may only have four districts, large cities dozens. There is no rule as to how many there should be. Ci ties are allowed to zone based on the police power, which is the tool goverrnnents use to intervene in the lives of citizens for the protection of public health, safety, and welfare. Although the use of private land is subject to police power, the power cannot be used in any way that does not further the public health, safety, and welfare. HCMever, generally speaking, if it is possible to get enough votes to approve a set of regulations, it is probably also possible to shCM that the regulations lie within the scope of the police power. There is an abundant amount of literature on this subject, but simply stated, cities can zone and through zoning, cause all types of plans to be implemented, controlling grCMth and land use within their boundaries. Sare of the controls that generally are found alongside zoning regulations include canprehensive plans, subdivision regulations, aesthetic and architectural controls, off-street parking requirements, building cod es, and covenants or deed restrictions. Any and all can be used by ccmnuni ties. HCMever, deed restrictions are a little more canplicated than the others in that local governments have no pCMer to enforce these covenants with two exceptions. These are (1) to preserve open space or sane other quasi-public amenity in a planned unit develoµnent, if the local gov errnnent had relied on that open space as part of its reason for approving the project, and (2) to - r 1 I enforce covenants in Texas cities that do not have zoning and where the local governments are specifically authorized by state law to enforce private covenants. ZONING CATEGORIES RESIDENTIAL Residential uses are generally distinguished fran one another by the intensity of the us e. and they are single multi-family. CCMMERCIAL There are three sub-categories of residential uses family detached, single family attached, and Corrrnunities that have multiple categories of ccmnercial zones generally make the distinction between zones based on the perceived impact of the use on the surround ing neighborhood. This category is generally the area with the rrost problems and difficulties associated with the incremental differences in the sub categories. INDUSTRIAL There are basically two types of industrial zoning; light industrial and heavy industrial. Light districts generally include warehouses and light assembly plants that have little impact on surrounding neighborhoods other than traffic and visual impacts. Heavy districts are usually associated with manufacturing facilities likely to create noise, odors, srroke, etc., that can have very negative effects on the surrounding areas. AGRICULTURAL Again, there are sub categories generally associated with this district. They are: truly agricultural zoning in rural areas without developnent pressure; agricultural zoning that is really a temporary or holding zone where developnent pressure is increasing; and agricultural zoning that is r I l J designed to preserve agricultural land and/ or open space in a developing area. Zoning is an excellent tool to help shape a plan for camru.nity dev elopnent. Howev�r, econanic, social, and political realities ensure that zoning cannot canpletely form a land use pattern. That is where ccmprehensive plans, subdivision regulations, and other aspects of planning can be quite helpful. FRIENDSviCOD Currently, there are 16 separate zoning districts in the City. Of these, 6 are residential, 7 are carrnercial, 2 are industrial, and 1 is agricu ltural. Following is a brief description of each. SFR Single family residential is the Jrost restrictive of all the districts. The principal use is for low-density (2.7 units per acre) single family dwellings. A key phrase of the ordinance definition is: "Low density residential areas shall be protected fran higher density residential developnent and from the encroachment of incanpatible uses." Fairly extensive restrictions exist in this district. MFR Multi-family residential districts are divided into 4 categories. Low density uses (MFR-L) have a maximum density of 6 dwelling units per acre. This district is hane to duplexes, garden apartments, condaniniums, townhouses, and so on. This type of zoning is generally designed to serve as a buffer between lower density residential and either higher density residential or cornnercial areas. Medium density districts (MFR-M) are designed to provide for up to 9 units per acre. The purposes for the district are the sarre as MFR-L, just with a little higher density. l l J High density districts (MFR-H) are allowed up to 18 units per acre. Again, all other aspects are similar to the other MFR districts. Gard� Hane Districts (MFR-GHD) have unique requirerrents and typically are desigi;ed to accc:mnodate a site with limited area due to geographical restrictions, flooding problems, or for buffer purposes. The district has a density limit of 6 dwellings per acre. The Mobile Hane District (MHR-MH) is intended for mobile home developnent and has a limit of 10 units per acre. CCMMERCIAL The Cornnunity Shopping Center District (CSC) is intended for a unified grouping, in one or rnore buildings, of several (typically 5-20) retail and service shops or stores that provide for the regular needs and are for the convenience of the people residing in adjacent residential neighborhoods. Gross floor area generally ranges fran 30,000 to 100,000 square feet and land area generally is between 2-10 acres. There are also a variety of other requirerrents associated with this district, including a 30% cap on office use. The Neighborhood Cornnercial District (NC) is primarily intended for the retail sales of goods and services aimed towards the persons residing in adjacent residential neighborhoods. An NC district is located along the periphery of a residential neighborhood, is on a major street, and has more restrictions than are provided for in other cannercial districts. The Office Park District (OP) is intended to encourage and permit general professional and business offices of high site quality and appearance in attractive landscaped surroundings with the types of uses and design exterior appearance so controlled as to maintain the integrity and be generally canpatible with existing and future adjacent and surrounding single-family or rrrulti-farnily developnent. There are also other restrictions, as well as guidelines, that apply to these districts. f l 11 lJ The Business Park District (BP) is intended to encourage and permit light manufacturing and/ or service operations and auxiliary retail and wholesale sales. The district was created to allcw controls on exterior appearances and other limiting features to ensure canpatibility with adjacent residential and ccmnercial developnent. It is unlikely, however, that the aesthetic controls would withstand court challenges • REGIOOAL SHOPPING CENTER The Regional Shopping Center district is intended for a unified grouping in one or more buildings, usually with a minimum of 20 retail or service shops providing goods and services for people residing within a minimum of between 1 1/2 and 3 miles of the center. A center typically contains 10-30 acres of land and 100,000 to 1,000,000 square feet of gross floor area. This district is hane to malls and similar developnents. The Original Business District (OBD) was created to acccmnodate Friendswood' s Original Business area. Uses include ccmnercial offices, service industries, and public activities. It would appear that its purpose was to allcw whatever was located in the "old" area of tcwn to remain by making them a permitted use in the district. Planned Unit Developnents are a hybrid of sorts in that they allcw for an orderly developnent of a variety of uses in a mix that is canpatible with the whole developnent. Separately the individual pieces of the PUD may not be appropriate, but taken together, they can create, in effect, a rnini-camrunity. A canprehensive developnent plan is required for every PUD and they are very good tools for planning for large tracts of land. They can be a great deal of trouble, but generally, the end result is worth the add itional effort. INDUSTRIAL The Light Industrial (LI) District is intended primarily for the conduct of light manufacturing, assembling, and fabrication, and for warehousing, [ l wholesaling, and service operations. The district is designed to upgrade industrial develoµnent standards, preven t industrial blight, and protect light industrial developnent fran incanpatible residential, carmercial, or heavy. industrial uses. The Industrial District (I) is designed to accamooate those uses that are not canpatible with other district and envirorurents. Typically these areas are found on the edge of town away fran other uses. AGRICULTURAL The Agricultural District is pretty straight forward in its intended purpose and does not allow for much beyond agricultural uses. arHER LAND USE CONTROIS Entryways, visual corridors, and other terms are given to regulations affecting architecture, landscaping, screening, and other aspects of develoµnent, along particular paths leading through cities. This method is becaning more and more popular as the race for econanic developnent heats up in cities around the state and country. As the saying goes, "you only get one chance to make a first impression" and often times that impression is the detennining factor in business relocation and/or expansion. Cities are beginning to take notice of this fact and are looking for methods to enhance the appearance of their entry ways. Having historical pr operty sites and/or districts is another tool that has been around for quite sare time, but has been gaining popularity steadily in recent years. As an extension of this concept, the State of Texas originated the Main Street Program and has seen it spread throughout the country. The main purpose of this program is to prarote the main street of a town. Very simply stated, make it pretty, it becanes more desirable. Obviously, there is rrore to the concept, but the goal is clear. It has been very successful in many places, and parts of the program can be used anywhere. Creating sane type of historical recognition, in many cases, also accesses many sources of funding not otherwise available. It also can allow f l ! for fairly strict control of certain "aesthetic" features of developnent or restorations. At the very least, there is a lot to be said for preserving our ties with the past as we proceed into the future. Both entryway and historical designations can be accanplished by way of an "overlay district" that would not change the underlying zoning. It would create an additional layer of regulations that would need to be addressed, but the pennitted uses would not be effected. All of this information is designed to be used as a starting point as to what districts are supposed to do, what districts are currently in the City, and what we hope to have these districts accanplish. Once these areas are agreed upon, the pennitted uses associated with each will be IlRlch easier to incorporate into the plan. Having a single or unified vision of these districts will also greatly aid in detennining what direction the carmunity as a whole will go as well as the developnent of certain major arteries within the city. All of this will help with the formulation of a general or canprehensive plan, and will certainly diminish the time requirement nonnally associated with such plans.